Monday 15 September 2014

The Place I Love ... The Cookie, Coffee Shop & Music Venue, Leicester



New blog section today ... 'The Place I Love ...' will be all about places here, there and everywhere that, well, I Love, and that mean something to me, on this journey we call life, and this road we call living. Title taken from one of my favourite songs, on one of my favourite albums by one of my favourite bands of all time, 'The Place I Love' from 'All Mod Cons' by The Jam. You Beauty !!

Anyway, first stop on this tour of people, places and faces, The Cookie, Leicester, my home from home in my current home town. Looking forward to being back there performing again, it having been a little while, this Saturday for Matt Henshaw's Peace, Love & Tea Birthday Party with The Strangler Figs, Elizabeth Cornish and the DMU Gospel Choir !!



So, for the place itself, situated on High Street in Leicester City Centre, it's a prime locale for tea and coffee and fantastic grub, and some of the musical highlights in the city of Leicester in the evening. A place for all the beautiful people of Leicester to hang out, be entertained and guaranteed good times !!

Someone said to me quite recently, and I wish I could remember who it was, that The Cookie is so great because everyone knows what they're doing, from the food to the bar staff, sound engineers to the door staff, promoters and the owners. And wonderful people they all are too.

The owners know what they're doing for sure, and The Cookie will keep on getting bigger and better, before it takes of legendary status in Leicester City Centre and the midlands. When a place is ran by a lady straight out of Tallahassee and a gentleman so enthusiastic, bordering on obsessive with the independent live music and comedy scene, you know the coffee (and the tea) and the food is gonna be good, and you know the line-ups of bands, artist and comedians is gonna be second-to-none for a small city in the East Midlands of England !!

It's won a Dave's Comedy Award, hosting some bigger and bigger names, and I'm sure it will for many years to come ... board games and a pot of tea on the terrace ASAP would be my number one recommendation ...

Keep up the good work everyone involved, and hope to see loads of you beautiful people from LEicester and beyond this Saturday for my birthday party, it's gonna be one great night amongst many !!

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx



---===DOWNLOAD LINKS===---
DOWNLOAD & STREAM 'YOUR EYES ARE MADE OF GOLD' NOW !!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/your-eyes-are-made-of-gold-ep/id904335049
https://play.spotify.com/user/11100320251/playlist/7CJI4WcomJKYozyujcN4hK
DOWNLOAD & STREAM 'ALWAYS IN THE WAY' NOW !!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/always-in-the-way-ep/id875188981
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/always-in-the-way-ep
https://play.spotify.com/user/ilsonowl/playlist/2tHGjyz7EpEZpvgc8HpuRm
DEBUT 'IT AIN'T EASY/MY LIFE - EP' !!!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/id814589358
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aint-Easy-My-Life-EP/dp/B00I8ZDJZC/
https://play.spotify.com/album/733AAcf7c2KcZ75SUFlpi3
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.emusic.com/album/matt-henshaw/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/14753983/
http://www.7digital.com/artist/matt-henshaw/release/it-aint-easy-my-life
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.napster.co.uk/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep

The Peace, Love & Tea Tour Autumn 2014

Matt Henshaw Nottingham Peace Love Tea Party

The Peace, Love & Tea Tour Autumn 2014

Wednesday 10 September 2014

Your Eyes Are Made Of Gold OUT NOW !!!

MattHenshaw.com - Official website of midlands singer/songwriter and musician Matt Henshaw.

'YOUR EYES ARE MADE OF GOLD - EP' OUT NOW !!! DOWNLOAD IT TODAY !!




'YOUR EYES ARE MADE OF GOLD - EP' OUT NOW !!! DOWNLOAD IT TODAY !!


/// MATTHENSHAW.COM / T-SHIRTS / ACCESSORIES / CDs & VINYL ///



'YOUR EYES ARE MADE OF GOLD'

4 TRACK CD EP


 



 


'IT AIN'T EASY / MY LIFE'

7" VINYL SINGLE


 



 


'IT AIN'T EASY / MY LIFE'

4 TRACK CD EP


 



 


'ALWAYS IN THE WAY'

4 TRACK CD EP


 



 



REGULAR FIT

PEACE, LOVE & TEA SHIRTS


 



Sizes
Colours

 

     

SKINNY FIT

PEACE, LOVE & TEA SHIRTS


 



Sizes
Colours


As a size guide perhaps, please note that I am a SMALL t-shirt, but a LARGE skinny fit ... I hope this helps ...


With every purchase you will receive a FREE Matt Henshaw PEACE, LOVE & TEA selection of goodies and hand-written signed "Thank You!" note !!


If you would like to make a donation to THE PEACE, LOVE & TEA SHOP that would be most wonderful and splendid indeed. Then one day maybe we can fulfil my dream of having a real life PEACE, LOVE & TEA SHOP somewhere on a high street near you !!


 



/// THE PEACE, LOVE & TEA SHOP / T-SHIRTS / ACCESSORIES / CDs & VINYL ///


contact matt@matthenshaw.com

Sunday 7 September 2014

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Casino Empire

So, I had my first night off in about three months last night, and a Saturday as well, so what did I do? Went out to see some bands of course. In Leicester city, in my favourite venue - The Cookie. And exactly 2 weeks before my own birthday shin-dig it was nice to see the place packed out, why? Because Casino Empire were playing, that's why.

A very different atmosphere to the Matt Henshaw Peace, Love & Tea sessions but as I sat at the back perched up high watching the lads do their thing and whip the crowd into frenzy it was some spectacle to behold.

Advancing at a rapid pace beyond their years from when I first saw them a few months ago, new songs, smarter shirts - enough paisley on show to make sartorial swine like myself a very happy man - and a whole package that coming together very nicely.

Front man, and past guest on Tea & Toast with Matt Henshaw & Stu Crown, Tommy Cobley follows and fits into the rock'n'roll mould that's gone before him, effortlessly too, Ian Brown, Liam Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft, Tom Meighan ... Tommy Cobley. And it's no nonsense rock'n'roll in the Noel Gallagher lexicon all the way.

The Stone Roses, Oasis and fellow homegrown boys Kasabian pervades everything these chaps do, but when it's done genuinely, convincingly and passionately, there's absolutely nothing wrong in that. 'Shine On' and 'She Loves' have the potential, and you know the next batch of songs will get more and more anthemic, more so than what Beady Eye are currently churning out.

And so, it's with their penultimate song, a sterling rendition of the Burnage boys 'Rock & Roll Star' that spells out the whole philosophy, 20 years ago this week that tune came out charting the course of the first Oasis record, and hitting number one on my 7th birthday (Sunday 10th September, 1994) and changed my life forever, and it's still doing so today, the lads on the stage, and half the crowd weren't even born !!

Now's the time for these lads to take that ethos far and wide, rock'n'roll stars in Leicester, and this kind of show travels around the world, and translates into any language as a ruddy rollicking good time !!

So, hopefully I'll see you all down the Cookie in two weeks time, I know the boys in the band will be there, enjoyed a slightly more quaint and refined evening than their barnstorming rock'n'roll show, but all the same, it's all Peace, Love & Tea and that's what matters, Spread The Love Leicester !! MHx

Elizabeth Cornish
The Strangler Figs
Sky Valley Mistress
Jesse Wright
Siobhan Mazzei
Georgie Rose
Tapestry
The De Montfort University Gospel Choir
By The Rivers
Martin Luke Brown
Joy Mumford
Three Girl Rhumba
MotorMouf
Samuel Idwal
Abandon Her
Stef Baker
Emily Carr
Becky Edwards
Mahalia
Mia & The Moon
Rosa-Leigh
AJA
Kate Rendell
Esther Van Leuven
East Midlands Girls
Ones to Watch for 2014
The Bobcats
Savanna Bones
Mattayoux
Matt Zara
The Simpletones
Charlotte Carpenter
Leah Sinead
Matt Henshaw Recommends ...

---===DOWNLOAD LINKS===---
DOWNLOAD & STREAM 'ALWAYS IN THE WAY' NOW !!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/always-in-the-way-ep/id875188981
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/always-in-the-way-ep
https://play.spotify.com/user/ilsonowl/playlist/2tHGjyz7EpEZpvgc8HpuRm
DEBUT 'IT AIN'T EASY/MY LIFE - EP' !!!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/id814589358
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aint-Easy-My-Life-EP/dp/B00I8ZDJZC/
https://play.spotify.com/album/733AAcf7c2KcZ75SUFlpi3
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.emusic.com/album/matt-henshaw/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/14753983/
http://www.7digital.com/artist/matt-henshaw/release/it-aint-easy-my-life
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.napster.co.uk/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep

Top photo by Olly Stabler Photography

Friday 5 September 2014

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Elizabeth Cornish

Here I go recommending again, this time a beautiful soul, one of the most heartfelt and passionate troubadours I've come across. Massively excited to say that the lovely Elizabeth Cornish will be joining me at the Cookie, Leicester for my show on Saturday 20th September, and what a talented little lady she is.

I bought her album 'Displaced' a few months ago to accompany me driving around the country this festival season, and it's been a wonderfully wistful companion soundtracking my journeys. And it's all the more pleasing when I bought the CD from her cash in hand, her adorably modest demeanour said "are you sure you want to buy one, they're quite expensive?!"

No regrets, what a purchase ! The opening 5 songs melted my heart straight away. Track one 'Tears with Tea' wins on that title alone, but when you listen through the delicate, intricate web of emotions and platitude of honest raw confessional lyrics you can only be left uplifted, heartbroken and endeared to Elizabeth's tacit charm.

The title track 'Displaced' had me itching to let of the steering wheel and learn the chords right away, and I'll be honest, 'Saint' almost had me in tears, if you've ever felt love, in love or part of an unconditional love you'll know exactly what I mean.

More people should feel the heartbeats pumped into this record, more people should hear Miss Cornish sing, and more people should know her name, you should start by coming out to see her with myself on Saturday 20th September Live @ The Cookie in Leicester along with The Strangler Figs and the De Montfort University Gospel Choir ...

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

The Strangler Figs
Sky Valley Mistress
Jesse Wright
Siobhan Mazzei
Georgie Rose
Tapestry
The De Montfort University Gospel Choir
By The Rivers
Martin Luke Brown
Joy Mumford
Three Girl Rhumba
MotorMouf
Samuel Idwal
Abandon Her
Stef Baker
Emily Carr
Becky Edwards
Mahalia
Mia & The Moon
Rosa-Leigh
AJA
Kate Rendell
Esther Van Leuven
East Midlands Girls
Ones to Watch for 2014
The Bobcats
Savanna Bones
Mattayoux
Matt Zara
The Simpletones
Charlotte Carpenter
Leah Sinead
Matt Henshaw Recommends ...

---===DOWNLOAD LINKS===---
DOWNLOAD & STREAM 'ALWAYS IN THE WAY' NOW !!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/always-in-the-way-ep/id875188981
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/always-in-the-way-ep
https://play.spotify.com/user/ilsonowl/playlist/2tHGjyz7EpEZpvgc8HpuRm
DEBUT 'IT AIN'T EASY/MY LIFE - EP' !!!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/id814589358
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aint-Easy-My-Life-EP/dp/B00I8ZDJZC/
https://play.spotify.com/album/733AAcf7c2KcZ75SUFlpi3
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.emusic.com/album/matt-henshaw/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/14753983/
http://www.7digital.com/artist/matt-henshaw/release/it-aint-easy-my-life
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.napster.co.uk/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep